#115: The Amazon Ads Traffic You're Not Protecting

Read Time: 2.5 Minutes

Many authors spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on Amazon Ads with little to nothing to show for it.

And they never see it coming.

Last month, across all our Amazon Ads campaigns, we had a 23% conversion rate with a $2.55 cost-per-sale.

Not bad, right?

But here's the thing that might surprise you...

Most authors are leaving their most profitable traffic completely unprotected.

Let me explain.

While many authors focus on targeting competitive keywords and optimizing bids, they're completely ignoring the one type of traffic that converts better than anything else...

Readers already searching for their books.

It's standard practice for authors to target their comp (comparable) authors, their book titles, their series titles, etc.

And it works.

Amazon even suggests these as keywords.

But think about it...

You spend weeks, even months, building awareness for your book.

You invest in covers, descriptions, reviews.

Maybe you even run some Facebook or BookBub Ads to get things moving.

Meanwhile, other authors are bidding on your pen name, book titles, series titles, etc, and when readers come to Amazon to search for your book... their ad could very well be appearing above your organic listing.

They're capturing traffic that is looking for YOU.

And the worst part?

Most authors have no idea this is happening.

So, while you're busy targeting other authors' pen names and book titles (which is smart), ask yourself the question... are you protecting your own branded searches?

Are you playing offense and ignoring defense?

And here's what you're missing out on.

When people search for your book title, your author name, or variations of your series title – that's the highest-converting traffic you'll ever see.

These aren't cold prospects. They already know about you and are actively looking for your books.

Now, you might be thinking: "But if they're searching for my book, won't they find it anyway? Why pay for traffic I'd get for free?"

Here's the reality check: ads appear above organic search results on Amazon.

So when someone searches for your book title and you're not bidding on it, the first thing a reader will see might be other authors' ads.

Your organic listing?

It's pushed down the page.

The authors who understand this problem...

They've figured out how to not just protect their branded traffic, but turn it into their most profitable campaign.

Most authors are fighting the wrong battle.

They're optimizing keywords that everyone else is bidding on.

They're trying to outsmart the algorithm.

All while their branded traffic gets siphoned off by other authors.

Want to know if this is happening to you?

Go to Amazon and search for your book title, series title or pen name.

Look at the ads that appear above and below your organic listing.

How many of them are your books?

How many are other authors' books?

If you see other authors' books appearing when you search for yours, you've just discovered a massive opportunity to start driving more sales.

To wrap this up...

If you're not running Amazon Ads yet but have a small budget ($5-$10 per day is ample) and 30-60 minutes spare to set this up, brand protection campaigns are a brilliant place to start. 

They practically run themselves, convert like crazy, and capture sales that would otherwise slip through your fingers.

Even if you run no other campaigns, one brand protection campaign could just become one of your highest converting marketing assets.

That's it for this week.

Thanks for reading, see you next Saturday and enjoy your weekend :) 

To Your Success
– Matt